What documents should the claimant bring to the hearing?

Claimants should bring the originals of every document that they filed before the hearing. All of the evidence submitted by the claimant and other parties will be numbered and entered as ‘exhibits’. This is meant to ensure that everyone involved in the hearing has the same documents and nothing is missing.

Sometimes a claimant will bring new evidence that they did not file before the filing deadline. The claimant must explain why they could not file the evidence on time. The Refugee Protection Division member will decide whether to allow the new evidence. They will take into account the importance of the evidence and whether the claimant could, with reasonable effort, have filed it on time.